Delivery of an item to a vehicle

ABSTRACT

Generally, embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods that can identify the location of a consignee&#39;s vehicle and deliver an item to the location of the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/839,398 filed Mar. 15, 2013, which claims priority to U.S. PatentApplication No. 61/745,253 filed Dec. 21, 2012, which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, when a package is shipped, the package includes ashipping label that indicates both the consignee's name and the deliveryaddress. The delivery address is a static physical location. However,the person identified as the consignee may not be at the deliveryaddress during the time window when a package is scheduled to bedelivered. In which case, a carrier may have to make multiple trips tothe address to complete the delivery. This represents an inefficient useof carrier resources.

In other instances, a consignee may cancel other activities to ensurehis or her presence at a delivery address to receive a scheduled packagedelivery due to the importance of the package. As a result, theconsignee's movement is constrained due to the impending delivery of apackage. Accordingly, a need exists for improved delivery options andmethods that can accommodate consignee location changes.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In general, embodiments of the present invention provide systems,methods, apparatus, and computer program products for identifying thelocation of a consignee and proposing one or more alternative deliverylocations.

In accordance with one aspect, a method for identifying an alternativedelivery location for item bound for a customer is provided. The methodincludes the steps of (1) storing a customer profile associated with acustomer, wherein (a) the customer profile comprises informationassociated with a vehicle of the customer, (b) the vehicle comprises avehicle device configured to provide location information for thevehicle, and (c) the information associated with the vehicle of thecustomer is accessible by the customer via an interface; (2) receivingshipping information for an item to be delivered to the customer andassociating the shipping information for the item with the customerprofile, wherein the shipping information comprises a delivery location;(3) determining that the item is to be delivered to the vehicle of thecustomer; (4) responsive to determining that the item is to be deliveredto the vehicle of the customer, automatically requesting locationinformation for the vehicle, the location information to be generated bythe vehicle device; (5) receiving location information for the vehiclelocation indicating the current location of the vehicle; and (6)updating the shipping information to indicate the delivery location asthe current location of the vehicle.

In accordance with another aspect, a computer program product comprisingat least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readableprogram code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program codeportions comprising executable portions configured to (1) store acustomer profile associated with a customer, wherein (a) the customerprofile comprises information associated with a vehicle of the customer,(b) the vehicle comprises a vehicle device configured to providelocation information for the vehicle, and (c) the information associatedwith the vehicle of the customer is accessible by the customer via aninterface; (2) receive shipping information for an item to be deliveredto the customer and associating the shipping information for the itemwith the customer profile, wherein the shipping information comprises adelivery location; (3) determine that the item is to be delivered to thevehicle of the customer; (4) responsive to determining that the item isto be delivered to the vehicle of the customer, automatically requestlocation information for the vehicle, the location information to begenerated by the vehicle device; (5) receive location information forthe vehicle location indicating the current location of the vehicle; and(6) update the shipping information to indicate the delivery location asthe current location of the vehicle.

In accordance with another aspect, an apparatus comprising at least oneprocessor and at least one memory including computer program code, theat least one memory and the computer program code configured to, withthe processor, cause the apparatus to at least (1) store a customerprofile associated with a customer, wherein (a) the customer profilecomprises information associated with a vehicle of the customer, (b) thevehicle comprises a vehicle device configured to provide locationinformation for the vehicle, and (c) the information associated with thevehicle of the customer is accessible by the customer via an interface;(2) receive shipping information for an item to be delivered to thecustomer and associating the shipping information for the item with thecustomer profile, wherein the shipping information comprises a deliverylocation; (3) determine that the item is to be delivered to the vehicleof the customer; (4) responsive to determining that the item is to bedelivered to the vehicle of the customer, automatically request locationinformation for the vehicle, the location information to be generated bythe vehicle device; (5) receive location information for the vehiclelocation indicating the current location of the vehicle; and (6) updatethe shipping information to indicate the delivery location as thecurrent location of the vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of system that can be used to practice variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a mobile device in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of a one or more carrier servers in accordancewith certain embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic of a carrier device in accordance with certainembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can beused in accordance with embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that may beperformed to determine a probable delivery location in accordance withvarious embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments of the present invention now will be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theseinventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. The term “or” is used herein in both the alternativeand conjunctive sense, unless otherwise indicated. The terms“illustrative” and “exemplary” are used to be examples with noindication of quality level. Like numbers refer to like elementsthroughout.

Generally, embodiments of the present invention provide systems andmethods that can identify the location of a consignee and propose one ormore alternative delivery location(s). The proposed delivery locationmay be based on the current location of the consignee, current addresson the package to be delivered, information located in a social network(private or public), “to-be” location as determined by the consigneewhich would be transmitted to the carrier and/or a predicted consigneelocation. In other embodiments, the consignee or “carrier” may suggestan alternative location that may be a fixed location (e.g., an address,a retail location, a landmark, etc.) or a mobile location (e.g., dynamiclocation). This alternative location information may allow carriers toleverage internal package system information with current physicallocation information and potential physical locations to determinethrough internal network algorithms whether to stage, hold and/orre-distribute packages as required to meet customer needs. In somecases, particular customers who are mobile may not be required to stayin a fixed location to receive a delivery. The collected information mayalso facilitate increased delivery package density to a single location(mobile or fixed). In various embodiments, the same techniques foridentifying alternative delivery locations may be used to identifyalternative pickup locations as well.

In some embodiments, a method for delivering a shipment is provided. Forexample, a customer may register with a delivery service and elect a“Mobile Delivery” program. As part of the registration process, thesystem may allow the customer to register their mobile device, theirphysical location (i.e. social check-in service) and/or register theirvehicle's location determining device (e.g., navigation device, otherGPS enabled device). Also, the system may provide a list of socialnetwork options from which the user may select (e.g., Facebook,FourSquare, Yammer, Socialcast, etc.) and these social network accountswould be linked to the customer's account with the system (e.g., thesystem is a “friend” or otherwise linked). As will be described in moredetail below, the system may use location information derived from thecustomer's mobile device and/or social networking accounts (e.g.,public, business, private, vehicle, etc.) to facilitate delivery of apackage.

When a package is bound for a Mobile Delivery customer, variousembodiments may determine the location of the customer using thecustomer's mobile device GPS (global positioning system), a vehicle'spositioning device (e.g., navigation system), social networks,prediction algorithms or a check-in service with the system. Afterdetermining the location of the customer, the system may send a messageto the customer indicating the pending delivery and the originaldelivery location. The message may also provide one or more suggestedalternative delivery location(s) and/or may allow the customer tosuggest an alternative delivery location. In some embodiments, there maynot be an original delivery address but instead the package may simplyprovide a unique identifier for the customer. In this case, the systemwould sent suggested delivery locations based on the locationinformation derived from the customer's mobile device GPS (globalpositioning system), a vehicle's positioning device (e.g., navigationsystem), social networks, prediction algorithms or a check-in servicewith the system.

After the delivery location (e.g., original or alternative) is confirmedwith the customer, the system may send a unique and secureidentification code (e.g., a “Mobile Maxicode”) to the customer's mobiledevice for use at the time of delivery. The system may provide a carrierservice provider with en-route delivery instructions based on thecustomer mobile device GPS and operational telematics from the deliveryvehicle. The operational telematics may include the GPS location of thedelivery vehicle along with dispatch information. Using thisinformation, the dispatch plan for the carrier service provider may bealtered to the new delivery location. U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,024, which isincorporated herein in its entirety by reference, provides a descriptionof a system for updating a dispatch plan while a carrier serviceprovider is en-route that may be used with various embodiments. Invarious embodiments, the driver will proceed to the delivery location,and locate the consignee. Once the consignee is located, the carrierservice provider may verify the secure identification code previouslysent to the customer's mobile device by scanning the identification codeon the consignee's mobile device. In further embodiments, a delivery maybe made to an unattended vehicle and/or pickup from an unattendedvehicle as will be described in more detail below

I. Methods, Apparatus, Systems, and Computer Program Products

As should be appreciated, the embodiments may be implemented in variousways, including as methods, apparatus, systems, or computer programproducts. Accordingly, the embodiments may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment or an embodiment in which a processor is programmedto perform certain steps. Furthermore, the various implementations maytake the form of a computer program product on a computer-readablestorage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied inthe storage medium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may beutilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, ormagnetic storage devices.

Particular embodiments are described below with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus, systems, andcomputer program products. It should be understood that each block ofthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, may beimplemented in part by computer program instructions, e.g., as logicalsteps or operations executing on a processor in a computing system.These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a computer, suchas a special purpose computer or other programmable data processingapparatus to produce a specifically-configured machine, such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus implement the functions specified in the flowchartblock or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including computer-readableinstructions for implementing the functionality specified in theflowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatusto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computeror other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implementedprocess such that the instructions that execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provide operations for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport various combinations for performing the specified functions,combinations of operations for performing the specified functions andprogram instructions for performing the specified functions. It shouldalso be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams andflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions oroperations, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

II. Exemplary System Architecture

FIG. 1 provides an illustration of a system architecture that can beused in conjunction with various embodiments of the present invention.As shown in FIG. 1, the system architecture may include one or moremobile devices 101. For instance, the mobile devices 101 may besmartphone devices, mobile telephones, mobile computers, portabledigital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, gaming devices, electronictablets, navigation systems, GPS tracking device and other types ofsimilar electronic devices. Other mobile devices may include computersand/or GPS devices embedded in vehicles, jewelry, eyewear, watches orother items. In addition, in various embodiments, the mobile devices 101may include digital imaging capabilities. For example, the mobiledevices 101 may comprise a camera, barcode scanner, optical scanner,and/or the like.

The system 10 of FIG. 1 may further comprise one or more deliveryvehicles 100, one or more customer computing devices 102, one or morecarrier servers 104, one or more carrier devices 105, one or more GlobalPositioning System (GPS) satellites 115, one or more networks 135, oneor more social network servers 103 and/or the like. Each of thecomponents of the system 10 may be in electronic communication with(directly or indirectly), for example, one another over the same ordifferent wireless or wired networks including, for example, a wired orwireless Personal Area Network (PAN), Local Area Network (LAN),Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), cellularnetwork, or the like.

Various embodiments may use other networks to identify customerlocations such as RFID and NFC sites. For example, customers mayinteract with a poster with an installed NFC chip. When accessed with amobile device, the mobile device may receive a coupon for the itemdisplayed on the poster or be linked to the store/restaurant to place anorder. At the same time, the location of the mobile device may becaptured. These retailer/restaurant networks may be leveraged fordelivery spots.

For RFID embodiments, the customer could carry an RFID tag that stores aunique personal identification number. Various retail stores, malls,hospitals, office buildings, etc. may have RFID readers distributedthroughout the associated location that could interrogate the RFID tagsand provide a location for the customer base on the read location. Videonetworks are another way to track locations especially when combinedwith other tracking methods listed in the document. The capturedlocation information could be communicated to a carrier server tofacilitate delivery of an item.

It should be noted that other system architectures are contemplated thatmay be used to practice various aspects of the invention. Thus, thesystem architecture provided in FIG. 1 is for illustrative purposes onlyand should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention.Further, while FIG. 1 illustrates certain system entities as separate,standalone entities, the various embodiments are not limited to thisparticular architecture.

a. Exemplary Mobile Device

FIG. 2 provides a schematic diagram of a mobile device 101 according toone embodiment of the present invention. In this particular instance,the mobile device 101 is a smartphone. However, it should be understoodthat the mobile device 101 illustrated and hereinafter described ismerely illustrative of one type of device that may implement and/orbenefit from various embodiments and, therefore, should not be taken tolimit the scope of the invention. Thus, it should be noted that othertypes of electronic devices, such as mobile telephones, mobilecomputers, portable digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, gamingdevices, electronic tablets, and other types of similar electronicdevices, may employ various embodiments of the invention.

As shown, the mobile device 101 may include an antenna 212 (or multipleantennas 212) in communication with a transmitter 214 and a receiver216. The mobile device 101 may also include a processor 220 (e.g.,application processor and/or graphics processor) configured to providesignals to and receive signals from the transmitter 214 and receiver216, respectively.

The processor 220 may, for example, be embodied as variousconfigurations including circuitry, one or more microprocessors withaccompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more processor(s)without an accompanying digital signal processor, one or morecoprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or morecontrollers, processing circuitry, one or more computers, various otherprocessing elements including integrated circuits such as, for example,an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) or FPGA (fieldprogrammable gate array), or some combination thereof. Accordingly,although illustrated in FIG. 2 as a single processor, in someembodiments the processor 220 comprises a plurality of processors.

The signals sent and received by the processor 220 may include signalinginformation in accordance with an air interface standard of anapplicable cellular system, and/or any number of different wirelessnetworking techniques, comprising but not limited to Wi-Fi, wirelesslocal access network (WLAN) techniques such as Bluetooth™ (BT),Ultra-wideband (UWB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11, 802.16, and/or the like. In addition, these signals mayinclude speech data, user generated data, user requested data, and/orthe like.

In this regard, the mobile device 101 may be capable of operating withone or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulationtypes, access types, and/or the like. More particularly, the mobiledevice 101 may be capable of operating in accordance with various firstgeneration (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, third-generation (3G)communication protocols, fourth-generation (4G) communication protocols,Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) communication protocols(for example, session initiation protocol (SIP)), and/or the like. Forexample, the mobile device 101 may be capable of operating in accordancewith 2G wireless communication protocols IS-136 (Time Division MultipleAccess (TDMA)), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), IS-95(Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)), and/or the like. Also, forexample, the mobile device 101 may be capable of operating in accordancewith 2.5G wireless communication protocols General Packet Radio Service(GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and/or the like. Further,for example, the mobile device 101 may be capable of operating inaccordance with 3G wireless communication protocols such as UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access2000 (CDMA2000), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), and/orthe like. The mobile device 101 may be additionally capable of operatingin accordance with 3.9G wireless communication protocols such as LongTerm Evolution (LTE) or Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio AccessNetwork (E-UTRAN) and/or the like. Additionally, for example, the mobiledevice 101 may be capable of operating in accordance withfourth-generation (4G) wireless communication protocols such as LTEAdvanced and/or the like as well as similar wireless communicationprotocols that may be developed in the future.

Some Narrow-band Advanced Mobile Phone System (NAMPS), as well as TotalAccess Communication System (TACS), mobile devices 101 may also benefitfrom embodiments of this invention, as should dual or higher mode phones(for example, digital/analog or TDMA/CDMA/analog phones). Additionally,the mobile device 101 may be capable of operating according to Wi-Fi orWorldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) protocols.

It is understood that the processor 220 may comprise circuitry forimplementing audio/video and logic functions of the mobile device 101.For example, the processor 220 may comprise a digital signal processordevice, a microprocessor device, an analog-to-digital converter, adigital-to-analog converter, and/or the like. Control and signalprocessing functions of the mobile device 101 may be allocated betweenthese devices according to their respective capabilities. Additionally,the processor 220 may comprise an internal voice coder (VC) 220 a, aninternal data modem (DM) 220 b, and/or the like. Further, the processor220 may comprise functionality to operate one or more software programs,which may be stored in memory. For example, the processor 220 may becapable of operating a connectivity program, such as a web browser. Theconnectivity program may allow the mobile device 101 to transmit andreceive web content, such as location-based content, according to aprotocol, such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), hypertexttransfer protocol (HTTP), and/or the like. The mobile device 101 may becapable of using a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP) to transmit and receive web content across the internet orother networks.

The mobile device 101 may also comprise a user interface including, forexample, an earphone or speaker 224, a ringer 222, a microphone 226, adisplay 228, a camera 232, a user input interface, and/or the like,which may be operationally coupled to the processor 220. In this regard,the processor 220 may comprise user interface circuitry configured tocontrol at least some functions of one or more elements of the userinterface, such as, for example, the speaker 224, the ringer 222, themicrophone 226, the display 228, the camera 232, and/or the like. Theprocessor 220 and/or user interface circuitry comprising the processor220 may be configured to control one or more functions of one or moreelements of the user interface through computer program instructions(for example, software and/or firmware) stored on memory accessible tothe processor 220 (for example, volatile memory 240, non-volatile memory242, and/or the like). Although not shown, the mobile device 101 maycomprise a battery for powering various circuits related to the mobiledevice 101, for example, a circuit to provide mechanical vibration as adetectable output. The user input interface may comprise devicesallowing the mobile device 101 to receive data, such as a keypad 230, atouch display (not shown), a joystick (not shown), and/or other inputdevice. In embodiments including a keypad, the keypad may comprisenumeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and/or other keys for operatingthe mobile device 101.

As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile device 101 may also include one or morecomponents for sharing and/or obtaining data. For example, the mobiledevice 101 may comprise a short-range radio frequency (RF) transceiverand/or interrogator 264 so data may be shared with and/or obtained fromelectronic devices in accordance with RF techniques. The mobile device101 may comprise other short-range transceivers, such as, for example,an infrared (IR) transceiver 266, a Bluetooth™ (BT) transceiver 268operating using Bluetooth™ brand wireless technology developed by theBluetooth™ Special Interest Group, a wireless universal serial bus (USB)transceiver 270 and/or the like. The Bluetooth™ transceiver 268 may becapable of operating according to low power or ultra-low powerBluetooth™ technology (for example, Wibree™) radio standards. In thisregard, the mobile device 101 and, in particular, the short-rangetransceiver may be capable of transmitting data to and/or receiving datafrom electronic devices within a proximity of the mobile device 101,such as within 10 meters, for example. Although not shown, the mobiledevice 101 may be capable of transmitting and/or receiving data fromelectronic devices according to various wireless networking techniques,including 6LoWpan, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi low power, WLAN techniques such as IEEE802.11 techniques, IEEE 802.15 techniques, IEEE 802.16 techniques,and/or the like.

The mobile device 101 may comprise memory, such as a subscriber identitymodule (SIM) 238, a removable user identity module (R-UIM), and/or thelike, which may store information elements related to a mobilesubscriber. In addition to the SIM 238, the mobile device 101 maycomprise other removable and/or fixed memory. The mobile device 101 mayinclude volatile memory 240 and/or non-volatile memory 242. For example,volatile memory 240 may include Random Access Memory (RAM) includingdynamic and/or static RAM, on-chip or off-chip cache memory, and/or thelike. Non-volatile memory 242, which may be embedded and/or removable,may include, for example, read-only memory, flash memory, magneticstorage devices (for example, hard disks, floppy disk drives, magnetictape, etc.), optical disc drives and/or media, non-volatile randomaccess memory (NVRAM), and/or the like. Like volatile memory 240,non-volatile memory 242 may include a cache area for temporary storageof data. The memories may store one or more applications (e.g., softwareprograms), instructions, pieces of information, data, and/or the likewhich may be used by the mobile device 101 for performing functions ofthe mobile device 101. For instance, as described in greater detailbelow, one or more of the memories on the device 101 may store a smartcode application 250 in various embodiments that performs variousaspects of the claimed invention.

b. Exemplary Carrier Server

FIG. 3 provides a schematic of a carrier server 104 according to oneembodiment of the present invention. In general, the term “server” mayrefer to, for example, any computer, computing device, mobile phone,desktop, notebook or laptop, distributed system, server, blade, gateway,switch, processing device, or combination of processing devices adaptedto perform the functions described herein. As will be understood fromthis figure, in one embodiment, the carrier server 104 may include aprocessor 60 that communicates with other elements within the carrierserver 104 via a system interface or bus 61. The processor 60 may beembodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processor 60may be embodied as one or more processing elements, one or moremicroprocessors with accompanying digital signal processors, one or moreprocessors without accompanying digital signal processors, one or morecoprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or morecontrollers, and/or various other processing devices includingintegrated circuits such as, for example, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), ahardware accelerator, and/or the like.

In an exemplary embodiment, the processor 60 may be configured toexecute instructions stored in the device memory or otherwise accessibleto the processor 60. As such, whether configured by hardware or softwaremethods, or by a combination thereof, the processor 60 may represent anentity capable of performing operations according to embodiments of thepresent invention when configured accordingly. A display device/inputdevice 64 for receiving and displaying data may also be included in orassociated with the carrier server 104. The display device/input device64 may be, for example, a keyboard or pointing device that is used incombination with a monitor. The carrier server 104 may further includetransitory and non-transitory memory 65, which may include both randomaccess memory (RAM) 67 and read only memory (ROM) 66. The carrierserver's ROM 66 may be used to store a basic input/output system (BIOS)26 containing the basic routines that help to transfer information tothe different elements within the carrier server 104.

In addition, in one embodiment, the carrier server 104 may include atleast one storage device 63, such as a hard disk drive, a CD drive, aDVD drive, and/or an optical disk drive for storing information onvarious computer-readable media. The storage device(s) 63 and itsassociated computer-readable media may provide nonvolatile storage. Thecomputer-readable media described above could be replaced by any othertype of computer-readable media, such as embedded or removablemultimedia memory cards (MMCs), secure digital (SD) memory cards, MemorySticks, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),flash memory, hard disk, and/or the like. Additionally, each of thesestorage devices 63 may be connected to the system bus 61 by anappropriate interface.

Furthermore, a number of executable instructions, applications, scripts,program modules, and/or the like may be stored by the various storagedevices 63 and/or within RAM 67. Such executable instructions,applications, scripts, program modules, and/or the like may include anoperating system 80 and a data processing application 85. As discussedin greater detail below, this application 85 may control certain aspectsof the operation of the carrier server 104 with the assistance of theprocessor 60 and operating system 80, although its functionality neednot be modularized. In addition to the program modules, the carrierserver 104 may store and/or be in communication with one or moredatabases, such as database 90.

Also located within and/or associated with the carrier server 104, inone embodiment, is a network interface 74 for interfacing with variouscomputing entities. This communication may be via the same or differentwired or wireless networks (or a combination of wired and wirelessnetworks), as discussed above. For instance, the communication may beexecuted using a wired data transmission protocol, such as fiberdistributed data interface (FDDI), digital subscriber line (DSL),Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, data over cableservice interface specification (DOCSIS), and/or any other wiredtransmission protocol. Similarly, the carrier server 104 may beconfigured to communicate via wireless external communication networksusing any of a variety of protocols, such as 802.11, GSM, EDGE, GPRS,UMTS, CDMA2000, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB, NAMPS,TACS and/or any other wireless protocol.

It will be appreciated that one or more of the carrier server's 104components may be located remotely from other carrier server 104components. Furthermore, one or more of the components may be combinedand additional components performing functions described herein may beincluded in the carrier server 104.

c. Exemplary Carrier Device

With respect to the carrier device 105, FIG. 4 provides an illustrativeschematic representative of a carrier device 105 that can be used inconjunction with the embodiments of the present invention (e.g., acarrier device 105 carried by an operator of a delivery vehicle 100). Insome embodiments, a carrier device 105 may be configured to comprise anyor all of the hardware and provide some or all of the functionalitydescribed above with regard to the example mobile device 101 of FIG. 2.As shown in FIG. 4, the carrier device 105 may comprise an antenna 412,a transmitter 404, a receiver 406, and a processing device 408, e.g., aprocessor, controller, and/or the like, that provides signals to andreceives signals from the transmitter 404 and receiver 406,respectively.

The signals provided to and received from the transmitter 404 and thereceiver 406, respectively, may include signaling information inaccordance with an air interface standard of applicable wireless (orwired) systems. In this regard, the carrier device 105 may be capable ofoperating with one or more air interface standards, communicationprotocols, modulation types, and access types. More particularly, thecarrier device 105 may operate in accordance with any of a number ofsecond-generation (2G) communication protocols, third-generation (3G)communication protocols, fourth generation communication protocols (4G),near field communication protocols (NFC) and/or the like. Further, forexample, the carrier device 105 may operate in accordance with any of anumber of different wireless networking techniques, such as GPRS, GSM,EDGE, UMTS, CDMA2000, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, UWB,NAMPS, TACS, and/or any other wireless protocol. Via these communicationstandards and protocols, the carrier device 105 can communicate with thecarrier server 104 and/or various other entities.

The carrier device 105 may also comprise a user interface (that caninclude a display 416 coupled to a processing device 408) and/or a userinput interface (coupled to the processing device 408). The user inputinterface can comprise any of a number of devices allowing the carrierdevice 105 to receive data, such as a keypad 418, a touch display 420,barcode reader 430, RFID tag reader 432, and/or other input device. Inembodiments including a keypad 418, the keypad 418 can include theconventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and other keys usedfor operating the carrier device 105 and may include a full set ofalphabetic keys or set of keys that may be activated to provide a fullset of alphanumeric keys. In addition to providing input, the user inputinterface can be used, for example, to activate and/or deactivatecertain functions, such as screen savers and/or sleep modes. Althoughnot shown, the carrier device 105 may also include a battery, such as avibrating battery pack, for powering the various circuits that arerequired to operate the carrier device 105, as well as optionallyproviding mechanical vibration as a detectable output. The carrierdevice 105 may further include a printing device that may be utilizedfor printing various items, such as shipping labels and/or receipts.

The carrier device 105 can also include volatile memory 422 and/ornon-volatile memory 424, which can be embedded or may be removable. Forexample, the non-volatile memory may be embedded or removable MMCs, SDmemory cards, Memory Sticks, EEPROM, flash memory, hard disk, and/or thelike. The memory can store any of a number of pieces or amount ofinformation and data used by the carrier device 105 to implement thefunctions of the carrier device 105. The memories may store one or moreapplications (e.g., software programs), instructions, pieces ofinformation, data, and/or the like which may be used by the carrierdevice 105 for performing functions of the carrier device 105. Forinstance, as described in greater detail below, one or more of thememories on the carrier device 105 may store an authenticationapplication 440 in various embodiments that performs various aspects ofthe claimed invention. The carrier device 105 may also include a GPSmodule adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude,geocode, course, speed, universal time (UTC), date, and/or telematicsinformation/data. In one embodiment, the GPS module acquires data,sometimes known as ephemeris data, by identifying the number ofsatellites in view and the relative positions of those satellites.

d. Exemplary Customer Computing Device

The customer computing devices 102 may each include one or morecomponents that are functionally similar to those of the carrier server104. For example, in one embodiment, each of the customer computingdevices may include: (1) a processor that communicates with otherelements via a system interface or bus; (2) a display device/inputdevice; (3) transitory and non-transitory memory; and (4) acommunications interface. These architectures are provided for exemplarypurposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments. The term“computing device” is used generically to refer to any computer,computing device, desktop, notebook or laptop, distributed system,carrier system, gateway, switch, or other processing device adapted toperform the functions described herein.

e. Exemplary Carrier Social Network Server

Various embodiments may include a carrier social network server thatprovides a carrier and/or business social network. The components of thecarrier social network server may include one or more components thatare functionally similar to those of the carrier server 104. Forexample, in one embodiment, each of the customer computing devices mayinclude: (1) a processor that communicates with other elements via asystem interface or bus; (2) a display device/input device; (3)transitory and non-transitory memory; and (4) a communicationsinterface. These architectures are provided for exemplary purposes onlyand are not limiting to the various embodiments. The term “computingdevice” is used generically to refer to any computer, computing device,desktop, notebook or laptop, distributed system, carrier system,gateway, switch, or other processing device adapted to perform thefunctions described herein.

III. Exemplary System Operation

With the increasing sophistication of mobile devices, users can nowaccess the Internet from almost anywhere. This allows business owners toconduct business in non-traditional locations such as coffee shops,restaurants, airports, etc. Additionally, users can also use mobiledevices to access social networks. Various embodiments of the presentinvention harnesses the power of these sophisticated mobile devices andsocial networks to provide new delivery options for consignees for whomcurrent delivery options may not be sufficient. For example, variousembodiments may allow users to identify one or more alternative deliverylocations. Moreover, the system may proactively suggest one or morealternative delivery location(s) to facilitate more efficient delivery.In addition, the system may determine the consignee has physical movedto another location (address, city, state, country) and has requested“follow-me” service that would automatically forward the package to thenext available mobile delivery location.

1. Registration

In various embodiments, the process may begin at Block 500, in FIG. 5,with the enrollment/registration of one or more customers for a customerdelivery program. Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/174,299, filed Jun. 30, 2011 and entitled “Customer ControlledManagement of Shipments,” which is incorporated by reference herein inits entirety, describes a registration process and operations of variouscustomer delivery programs that may operate in conjunction withembodiments of the present invention. A customer may be an individual, afamily, a company, an organization, an entity, a department within anorganization, a representative of an organization and/or person, and/orthe like. To register, a customer (e.g., a customer or customerrepresentative operating a customer mobile device 101 or computingdevice 102) may access a webpage or portal of a carrier, such as UnitedParcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS). For instance, the one or morecarrier servers 104 may transmit a webpage that provides the customerwith an option of logging into a customer account orenrolling/registering for a social customer delivery program via publicsocial networks, business social networks and/or a private socialnetwork provided by the carrier.

In one embodiment, as part of the enrollment/registration process, thecustomer (e.g., a customer or customer representative operating acustomer mobile device 101 or computing device 102) may be requested toprovide biographic and/or geographic information by the one or morecarrier servers 104. For instance, the customer may provide thecustomer's name, such as a first name, a last name, a company name, anentity name, and/or an organization name. The customer may also provideany aliases associated with the customer. For instance, if the customerwere an individual named Joseph Brown, the customer may provide JoeBrown or Joey Brown as aliases. The customer may also provide one ormore addresses associated with the customer (e.g., street address, city,state, postal code, and/or country). For instance, Joseph Brown'saddress may be 105 Main Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30309, USA. As indicated,the customer may have multiple addresses associated with the account.For instance, Joseph Brown may have a home address and a businessaddress associated with his account. Similarly, an organization may havemultiple locations (e.g., addresses) associated with its account. Whenmultiple addresses are provided, the customer may indicate which addressshould be used as the primary address. As will be recognized, thecustomer may provide other biographic and/or geographic information toadapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, once the one or more carrier servers 104 receives thenecessary biographic and/or geographic information from the customer orcustomer's external social network, the one or more carrier servers 104may perform one or more validation operations. For example, the one ormore carrier servers 104 may determine whether the primary address(and/or other addresses) in the specified country or postal code iseligible for a customer delivery program, such as for example a MobileDelivery program as discussed in more detail below. The one or morecarrier servers 104 may also determine whether the primary address(and/or other addresses) is valid, e.g., by passing the primary addressthrough one or more address cleansing or standardization systems. Theone or more carrier servers 104 may perform a variety of fraudprevention measures as well, such as determining whether the customer orone of the customer's addresses has been “blacklisted” from customerdelivery programs. As will be recognized, a variety of other approachesand techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, the one or more carrier servers 104 may create acustomer profile for the customer via the enrollment/registrationprocess. Accordingly, the one or more carrier servers 104 may create andstore various customer profiles (e.g., via database 90 and/or carrier(private) internal social network). In addition to at least theinformation described above, a customer profile may include one or morecorresponding usernames and passwords. Additionally, the one or morecarrier servers 104 may also create and store a customer identifier(e.g., personal ID) in association with the customer profile. In oneembodiment, a customer identifier may be used to uniquely identify acustomer profile. In another embodiment, a customer identifier may beused to uniquely identify a given address associated with a customerprofile and/or carrier (private) internal social network. In such anembodiment, if a customer profile is associated with four addresses, theone or more carrier servers 104 may create and store four customeridentifiers in association with the customer profile. The customeridentifier may also be stored in association with shipping data for anitem to associate the item (and its shipping data) with the (a) correctcustomer (e.g., customer profile) and/or (b) correct address for acustomer. In various embodiments, a customer identifier may be used inplace of an address on an item as will be discussed in greater detailbelow.

In one embodiment, a customer profile within a carrier social networkmay correspond to one or more customer delivery programs. For instance,a customer (e.g., a customer or customer representative operating acustomer mobile device 101 or computing device 102) may subscribe to oneor more specific customer delivery programs. For example, the variouscustomer delivery programs may allow customers to have access to certainfeatures, e.g., delivery alerts, approximate delivery times, changedelivery options, electronically authorize the release of an item,and/or route items to will call. Other customer delivery programs mayinclude allowing customers to route items to other retail locations,reschedule deliveries, request that items be delivered to anotheraddress, and/or provide instructions for delivery. As will berecognized, these features are provided for illustrative purposes andare not limiting to embodiments of the present invention. Moreover, avariety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt tovarious needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, once a customer profile has been created by the oneor more earner servers 104, the customer (e.g., a customer or customerrepresentative operating a customer mobile device 101 or computingdevice 102) can provide various preferences associated with the customerdelivery program to the one or more carrier servers 104 via a webpage,for example. For instance, the customer (e.g., a customer or customerrepresentative operating a customer mobile device 101 or computingdevice 102) can provide a variety of preferences, such as communicationpreferences, delivery preferences, delivery options, and/or deliveryinstructions.

In various embodiments, one of the specific customer delivery programsoffered is a “Mobile Delivery” program. When a user selects the MobileDelivery program, the one or more carrier servers 104 may then allow thecustomer to register one or more mobile devices 101 such that thecarrier server can access the GPS location of the mobile device(s). Aswill be described in more detail below, the location information derivedfrom the mobile device 101 may be used to identify possible deliverylocations.

The one or more carrier servers 104 may also provide a list of socialnetwork options from which the user may select. These options mayinclude public Open Social Networks (e.g., Facebook, FourSquare, etc.),private carrier service Customer Social Networks (a private socialnetwork maintained by the carrier for users of the Delivery Service), aprivate Carrier Service Social Networks (a private social networkmaintained and constructed by the carrier via the carrier's internaloperations' data to identify the members of a social network forconsolidated deliveries), a user's Business Social Networks (e.g.,Yammer, Socialcast, etc.) and/or a vehicle social network. Other socialnetwork options may be included as well. As will be discussed in greaterdetail below, information retrieved from these social networks mayprovide location information regarding the customer and thus be used toidentify possible delivery locations.

In various embodiments, a vehicle social network may communicate withvehicle devices (e.g., navigation devices, OnStar®, cellular terminals,etc.) associated with members of the vehicle social network. Forexample, the vehicle devices may communicate “checkin” and “checkout”events based on vehicle conditions and/or location information (e.g.,GPS locations, proximate a retail location such as a shopping mall) tothe vehicle social network. For example, a vehicle device may send acheck-in message indicating a location of the vehicle to a vehiclesocial network when the vehicle has been turned off for a predeterminedthreshold time (e.g., 3 minutes, 1 hour) and a checkout message when thevehicle moves beyond a predetermined distance threshold from the checkinlocation. These locations may be used to facilitate item deliveries toor pickups from the vehicle.

In some embodiments, the one or more carrier servers 104 may determinewhether the location(s) associated with the customer are available forthe Mobile Delivery program. For example, some carriers may restrict theMobile Delivery program to certain delivery areas or delivery types(e.g., restricted to particular cities, states, or domestic deliveries,etc.) This may be accomplished by the carrier using methods thatconsider physical locations of packages, service providers (deliverypersonnel), service vehicles, with customer reported and/or checked insocial locations and/or customer vehicle reported and/or checked inlocations via a social network.

2. Identifying Mobile Delivery Shipments

Following registration of a customer and creation of a customer profile,the process may continue to Block 510 of FIG. 5 where one or more itemsto be delivered to the customer by the carrier may be identified. Byidentifying items to be delivered to the customer, the one or morecarrier servers 104 can provide the customer with access to variousfeatures of a customer delivery program for the item. As will berecognized, an item may be a parcel or group of parcels, a package orgroup of packages, scrap metal banded together, a vehicle part, a box, acrate, a drum, a box strapped to a pallet, and/or the like. In oneembodiment, each item may include an item/shipment identifier, such as abarcode, a MaxiCode, electronic representation, and/or text. Theitem/shipment identifier (e.g., 123456789) may be used by the carrier toidentify and track the item as it moves through the carrier'stransportation network. Such item/shipment identifiers can be affixed toitems by, for example, using a sticker (e.g., label) with theitem/shipment identifier printed thereon (in human and/or machinereadable form), an RFID tag with the item/shipment identifier storedtherein or an electronic tag with a display screen.

In one embodiment, the one or more carrier servers 104 may store anitem/shipment identifier in association with shipping data for the item.The shipping data may include information about the item, such asdelivery service level. For example, the delivery service level may beNext Day Air, Next Day Air Early AM, Next Day Air Saver, 2nd Day Air,2nd Day Air Early AM, 3 Day Select, and/or Ground. The shipping data mayinclude information about the party shipping the item (e.g., consignor),such as the party's address, the party's phone number, the party'sreturn address, the party's name, and/or the like. The shipping data mayalso include information about the customer to whom the item is to bedelivered (e.g., consignee), such as the customer's address (e.g.,delivery location), the customer's phone number, the customer's name,and/or the like. In various embodiments, the shipping data may include acustomer identifier in place of an address.

In one embodiment, the shipping data may include information about theitem itself and any tracking information. The tracking information mayreflect the item's movement in the carrier's transportation network,including expected delivery date and time. To reflect the item'smovement, an item/shipment identifier associated with the item may bescanned or otherwise electronically read at various points as the itemis transported through the carrier's transportation network. Forexample, the item/shipment identifier may be automatically scanned by abarcode or MaxiCode device, an RFID interrogator, by a cameracontroller, or by a carrier employee using a handheld device (e.g.,carrier device 105). In one embodiment, each time the item/shipmentidentifier is scanned or read, an appropriate device can transmit theitem/shipment identifier and other appropriate information (e.g.,location and time of the scan or reading) to the one or more carrierservers 104. The one or more carrier servers 104 can then receive anduse the information to track the item as it is transported though thecarrier's transportation network and update the shipping dataaccordingly.

In one embodiment, the one or more carrier servers 104 can use theshipping data to identify one or more customer profiles corresponding tothe item. As described, each customer profile may include one or moreaddresses associated with the customer. Thus, when the one or morecarrier servers 104 receives shipping data (or a portion of shippingdata) for an item, the one or more carrier servers 104 can determinewhether the item corresponds to any customers enrolled/registered for acustomer delivery program, such as the Mobile Delivery program.

After identifying the appropriate customer profile, the one or morecarrier servers 104 can associate the shipping data with the customerprofile. This may include appending the shipping data with theappropriate customer identifier (or other identifier corresponding tothe customer profile). For instance, the shipping data for all shipmentscorresponding to Joseph Brown's customer profile may be appended withthe customer identifier (or other identifier) created for Joseph Brown.In various embodiments, using this approach allows items (and theirshipping data) to be linked to appropriate customer profiles. In someembodiments, the customer identifier may already be present in theshipping data. Based on the associated customer profile, the one or morecarrier servers 104 can ascertain whether the customer has elected theMobile Delivery program.

3. Mobile Delivery

In various embodiments, when a Mobile Delivery shipment is identified,the associated customer may be notified that an item is en-route atBlock 520 of FIG. 5. The notification may be provided in one or moreformats including text messages (e.g., Short Message Service (SMS)and/or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), email messages, voicemessages, and/or a variety of other messages in various communicationformats.

In response to the notification, the customer (e.g., a customer orcustomer representative operating a customer mobile device 101 orcomputing device 102) may access a webpage or portal of a carrier andprovide instructions on the type of delivery desired at Block 530. Thecustomer may request immediate delivery to the original address therebybypassing the Mobile Delivery. Alternatively, the customer may choose tohave the item delivered via the Mobile Delivery service and/or tospecific mobile locations and may also specify a delivery time. In someembodiments, the customer's item will automatically be delivered via theMobile Delivery service unless the user requests otherwise on anitem-by-item basis. In other embodiments, the user may need to log ontothe carrier webpage or portal to request that an item be delivered viathe Mobile Delivery service. In still other embodiments, the customermay choose the Mobile Delivery program as part of completing atransaction with an online merchant, in which case the shipment may bedelivered automatically via the Mobile Delivery service by the carrier.In a still further embodiment, the item may be initially delivered tothe original destination address. If the customer is not present at thatlocation, the Mobile Delivery service may be automatically initiated(based on previous authorization from the customer).

Assuming the Mobile Delivery service is selected for the particularitem(s) (e.g., by the customer or automatically), the one or morecarrier servers 104 may identify possible alternative deliverylocation(s) at Block 540 for selection by the customer at Block 550.These alternative delivery location(s) may be determined based on theGPS location of the customer's mobile device 101 which may be accessedafter the customer requested Mobile Delivery. The alternative deliverylocation(s) may also be determined by accessing the customer's socialnetworks as previously authorized. Using this information, the one ormore carrier servers 104 may identify potential delivery locations suchas restaurants, retail stores, landmarks or other locations that arewithin a predetermine distance from the determined location of thecustomer.

In some embodiments, the one or more carrier servers 104 may use thelocation information to “pro-actively” identify potential deliverylocations such as restaurants, retail stores, landmarks or otherlocations that are within a predetermine distance of the determinedlocation of the customer and “pro-actively” notify the customer of thisoption (e.g., before the customer has selected the Mobile Deliveryoption). For example, the alternate delivery location(s) may becommunicated to the customer with the notification or when the customeraccesses the web portal. As discussed in greater detail with respect toFIG. 6 below, the one or more carrier servers may also use variousalgorithms to predict the location of a customer and offer theselocations as possible alternative delivery locations.

In addition, using the location information, the one or more carrierservers 104 may identify potential delivery locations such asrestaurants, retail stores, landmarks or other locations that are notwithin a predetermine distance from the “original” determined locationof the customer, but now “follows the customer” to his/her nextlocation. This location may be another city, state and/or country ifsaid service has been authorized by the customer as a mobile deliveryoption. The carrier service provider may use navigation tools to findthe delivery location, social network information including informationabout the customer and/or the customer's vehicle (which may be part of avehicle social network). In various embodiments, the alternate deliverylocation may be provided directly from the customer as opposed toselecting a location proposed by the one or more carrier servers 104.

In further embodiments, the alternative delivery location may be adynamic location based on the mobile device 101 GPS or social networkaccount. For this embodiment, the customer may provide a base location(e.g., original address, current GPS location, retail store, landmark,intersection) and agree to remain within a predetermined distance fromthat location (e.g., 1 mile). For example, the customer may be shoppingat nearby retail stores and request that the item is delivered to herdynamic location. The carrier service provider would then use the GPSlocation of the customer's mobile device 101, social network informationincluding information about the customer and/or the customer's vehicle(which may be part of a vehicle social network) to locate the customerand make the delivery of the item. In various embodiments, the carrierservice provider may initially be en-route to the original address andreceive a message from the one or more carrier servers 104 to re-routethe item to a dynamic delivery location. The carrier service providercould then use navigation techniques, social network informationincluding information about the customer and/or the customer's vehicle(which may be part of a vehicle social network) to locate the dynamiclocation of the customer. In some embodiments, the item may be deliveredto a different delivery vehicle determined by the carrier that isalready schedule to deliver near the dynamic location.

In various embodiments, once the alternative delivery location isselected by the customer (e.g., via the web portal or return message) atBlock 550, the carrier will schedule the final delivery of the items viathe Mobile Delivery service. The one or more carrier servers 104 maysend a notification to the customer indicating the delivery date andtime window at Block 560. In various embodiments, the notification mayalso include a unique human or machine-readable code. The unique humanor machine-readable code may be an alphanumeric code, an image, a 1D or2D barcode, a QR Code, a Maxicode, or the like. When the carrier serviceprovider delivers the item, the carrier service provider may use thehuman or machine-readable code to confirm the user's identity at Block570 (via authentication application 440). For example, the customer mayretrieve the notification and associated code on a mobile device 101 andthe carrier service provider may scan the code with the carrier device105 or visually inspect the code to confirm the customer's identity. Inother embodiments, near field communication protocols may be used totransfer identification information between the user's mobile device 101and the carrier device 105. In further embodiments, the customer may begiven or may select a personal identification number (PIN) which couldbe used to confirm the customer's identity. In still furtherembodiments, the customer may communicate a digital image (e.g.,portrait of the customer) to the carrier and the carrier serviceprovider may access the digital image using the carrier device 105 toconfirm the customer's identity.

In some embodiments, a customer may also schedule an item pickup throughthe Mobile Delivery Service, via a similar process. In this case, thecustomer may access a web portal or webpage generated by the one or morecarrier servers 104 and request an item pick-up under the MobileDelivery program. Similar to the scheduling of item deliveries, the oneor more carrier servers 104 may determine the location of the customeras generally described above and propose a pickup location. Similartypes of notifications may also be sent regarding pick-ups as arediscussed herein with respect to item deliveries. The item deliveriesand pick-ups may then be completed by the Mobile Delivery service.

4. Predicting the Future Location of a Customer

In various embodiments, the one or more carrier servers 104 may accessvarious sources of data for use in predicting the location of thecustomer for use in suggesting a delivery location. One source of thedata may be a calendar initiated during registration and maintained bythe one or more carrier servers. With this calendar, the customer mayindicate normal locations for the customers during certain time periods(e.g., working hours, days, weeks, months, years). Another source ofdata may be from social networking sites. As noted above, the customermay indicate the carrier as a friend or provide some other type of linkwith one or more social networks. In this way, the one or more carrierservers can periodically retrieve location information for the customerand/or review the customer's location history over a predeterminedperiod of time. A further source of the data may be the customer'spersonal electronic calendar (e.g., Outlook, iPhone calendar, etc.)Other sources of data may include mobile device GPS locations and RFIDtracking devices. In various embodiments, this data may be accessed whenan item is bound for a Mobile Delivery customer. In some embodiments,the data may be accessed and stored (e.g., via database 90) periodicallyfor prediction purposes.

Once an item has been identified as being bound for a Mobile Deliverycustomer as described above, the one or more carrier servers compares aprojected delivery date as initially calculated by the carrier to thecustomer's electronic calendar (e.g., personal or maintained by carrier)and/or social network locations. One or more probable locations areidentified based at least in part on this comparison. If more than oneprobable location is identified, the locations may be ranked based onthe calculated probability.

FIG. 6 is flowchart illustrating an algorithm that may be used topredict the location of a customer for use in providing a proposeddelivery location to a customer. The process beings at Block 600 withthe one or more carrier servers 104 receiving data related to thecustomer's location. Sources of this data may include an electroniccalendar hosted by the carrier, a customer's personal calendar (e.g.,outlook calendar), social media location information (e.g., FaceBook,LinkedIn, Twitter, MySpace, Google+, deviantART, LiveJournal, Tagged,Piinerest, Orkut, Pinterest, LINE (Japan), WeChat (China), etc.),geolocators (e.g., smart phones, car navigation devices, computerdevices or internet connected devices with geolocation codeinformation), and/or RFID tracing devices. In various embodiments, theone or more carrier servers 104 may periodically gather and store thisdata for use in further calculations. In other embodiments, the one ormore carrier servers may access the data from the various sources asneeded. Some embodiments may use a combination of real-time data andpreviously gathered/stored data.

The gathered data is compared against the anticipated delivery date (andpossibly the time window) at Block 605. If there is a match at Block610, the one or more carriers 104 assigns a probability value to thelocation. For example, the calendar may indicate the user will beworking from an alternate office when the delivery is anticipated. Theexemplary algorithm assigns a 60% probability to the match to thealternate office location. It should be understood that this isexemplary only and that other probability values may be assigned tomatches as desired. Once the value is assigned, the process proceeds toBlock 620 where further location data is analyzed.

In the event no match is found at Block 610, the process proceeds toBlock 620 where other sources of location data are analyzed. Forexample, the one or more carrier servers 104 may review social medialocation information, geolocator information and/or RFID tracing devicesto determine where the customer is typically located in relation to theanticipated delivery date and time window. For example, the one or morecarrier servers 104 may analyze a certain time frame of data (e.g., aweek, a month, a quarter, a year, etc.) to ascertain where the customertypically resides on certain days of the week (e.g., works at certainlocations on certain days) or other patterns (e.g., customer frequentscertain stores, restaurants, pharmacies, etc.). The one or more carrierservers 104 may then establish a threshold number of occurrences withina certain time frame to identify a location “match.” Multipleoccurrences may be identified as a match if each location is within acertain threshold distance.

If one or more “matches” are found using the location data, the processcontinues to Block 625 where probability values are assigned to the oneor more matches. If the “match” location was already assigned aprobability value from the calendar analysis, the probability may beincreased due to this additional match. If the match location is new, aseparate value is assigned. In various embodiments, the probabilityvalue may be at least partially dependent on the number of matcheswithin the historical data are found for the particular location.

At Block 630, the one or more carrier servers 104 determines ifadditional data should be retrieve for the location analysis. In someembodiments, the determination may be made based on the age of thehistorical data. For example, if the historical data was last updatedover a particular time threshold (e.g., 3 months, 6 months, 1 year), theone or more carrier servers 104 may retrieve additional data. If thedata is sufficiently current and/or complete, the process may proceed toBlock 640.

At Block 640, a list of probable locations is generated. The list mayinclude the locations identified in the calendar analysis and/or thelocation analysis. In various embodiments, the locations on the list areranked based on the calculated probability.

After determining probable locations, the one or more carrier servers104 may send a message to the associated customer that an item isen-route. The notification may be provided in one or more formatsincluding text messages (e.g., Short Message Service (SMS) and/orMultimedia Messaging Service (MMS), email messages, voice messages,and/or a variety of other messages in various communication formats. Invarious embodiments the customer may be contacted with using socialmedia methods of communication (i.e. FaceBook messages, tweets, etc.)pursuant to a customer's preference.

The message may include a list of the probable locations for selectionby the customer. In various embodiments, the customer may need to accessa carrier webpage or portal to select the desired location from the listof locations. A hyperlink may be provided in the message to theappropriate webpage to make the selection. In some embodiments, thecustomer may be permitted to provide a new delivery location asgenerally described above. After selection of the location, the item isdelivered to the confirmed location. The location may be fixed ordynamic as noted above.

Various embodiments may also predict and change the communication methodbased on the customer's activity on the different social media channels.For example, a customer may prefer to communicate via FaceBook messagesbut when traveling to China, FaceBook is blocked in that country so thecustomer may switch to text messages. The customer's preferences as wellas past activities may allow the algorithm to predict this switchingpattern based on scheduled travel and locations.

5. Delivery to an Unattended Vehicle

In various embodiments, the carrier may deliver/pick-up a shipment to anunattended vehicle as opposed to an address or to a specific person. Tofacilitate this type of delivery/pick-up, the customer may notify thecarrier as to the location of the vehicle or give the carrier permissionto automatically find the customer's vehicle. This may be accomplishedby sending the GPS location of the vehicle using the customer's mobiledevice 101, a vehicle navigation system or third party car monitoringservice, such as OnStar®. With this information, the one or more carrierservers 104 may route (or reroute) the customer's item to the receivedvehicle location for delivery or send dispatch carrier personnel tocomplete an item pick-up from an unattended vehicle.

When the carrier service provider arrives at the vehicle, the carrierservice provider may use the carrier device 105 to contact an associatedthird party car monitoring service to send a signal to the vehicle toopen the trunk or unlock the vehicle. Alternatively, the customer mayprovide the one or more carrier servers 104 with the appropriate codesto open the trunk of the vehicle. In this instance, the carrier serviceprovider enters the code into a keypad associated with the vehicle oruses the carrier device 105 to send the appropriate signal to thevehicle to open the truck. The signal sent by the carrier device 105would mimic the customer's key fob. After delivering the shipment, thecarrier service provider would lock the trunk and/or vehicle.

6. Delivery to an Unattended Home

In various embodiments, the carrier may deliver/pick-up a shipment to anunattended home. To facilitate this type of delivery/pick-up, thecustomer may notify the carrier as to give the carrier permission toenter an area of the home. This may be accomplished by sending the GPSlocation of the home location using the customer's mobile device 101,accessing a social network (public or private), a home security systemand/or third party security monitoring service, such as ADT®. With thisinformation, the one or more carrier servers 104 may route (or reroute)the customer's item to the received location for delivery or senddispatch carrier personnel to complete an item delivery/pick-up from anunattended home.

When the carrier service provider arrives at the home, the carrierservice provider may use the carrier device 105 to contact an associatedthird party home monitoring service to send a signal to the home to openan area and/or unlock an area of the home (i.e. garage door).Alternatively, the customer may provide the one or more carrier servers104 with the appropriate codes to open the home. In this instance, thecarrier service provider enters the code into a keypad associated withthe home or uses the carrier device 105 to send the appropriate signalto the home to open the home and/or designated area. The signal sent bythe carrier device 105 would mimic the customer's key fob. Afterdelivering the shipment, the carrier service provider would lock thehome and/or area.

ZigBee networks are used for home and office automation. Typically thesetypes of networks are used to control smart devices (door locks, lights,energy control systems, etc.). With a customer's permission, the carriercould use these devices to deliver packages into secure areas.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer program product comprising atleast one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-readable program code portions stored therein, thecomputer-readable program code portions comprising: an executableportion configured to receive a request by a user for mobile delivery ofone or more items to a vehicle that is associated with the user; anexecutable portion configured to identify the one or more items to bedelivered to the vehicle, wherein each item comprises an item shipmentidentifier associated with shipping data for each item; an executableportion configured to store one or more user profiles, by one or moreprocessors, associated with the user, wherein (a) the one or more userprofiles comprise information associated with the vehicle of the user,(b) the vehicle comprises a vehicle location determining computingdevice configured to wirelessly provide real-time location informationfor the vehicle in response to requests, (c) the one or more userprofiles provide the user with access to the information associated withthe vehicle via an interactive interface executing on a mobile computingdevice based at least in part on access credentials, and (d) the one ormore user profiles provide, via the interactive interface executing onthe mobile computing device based at least in part on the accesscredentials, the user with access to information associated with an itemto be delivered to the user; an executable portion configured to receivethe shipping data for each item to be delivered to the user andutilizing the shipping data to identify the one or more user profilescorresponding to each item to be delivered, wherein the shipping datacomprises a delivery location as a fixed delivery location; anexecutable portion configured to provide an interactive user interfacefor display via the mobile computing device, the interactive userinterface comprising visually selectable indicia of a dynamic deliveryoption; an executable portion configured to receive a request to changethe delivery location from the fixed delivery location indicated in theshipping data to a dynamic delivery location, the dynamic deliverylocation being the real-time location of the vehicle determined by thevehicle location determining computing device, wherein the request tochange the delivery location is based on a user selection of thevisually selectable indicia of the dynamic delivery option presented viathe interactive user interface executing on the mobile computing device;an executable portion configured to, responsive to receiving the requestto change the delivery location from the fixed delivery locationindicated in the shipping data to the dynamic delivery location,electronically generate, via the one or more processors, updatedshipping data to indicate the delivery location as the dynamic deliverylocation; an executable portion configured to accessing the one or moreuser profiles to identify the vehicle; an executable portion configuredto request the real-time location information for the vehicle from thevehicle location determining computing device, the real-time locationinformation to be generated by the vehicle location determiningcomputing device; an executable portion configured to receive thereal-time location information for the vehicle originating from andgenerated by the vehicle location determining computing device, thereal-time location information (a) indicating a current location of thevehicle and (b) comprising coordinates of the vehicle; an executableportion configured to electronically change the shipping data toindicate the dynamic delivery location as the current location of thevehicle; and an executable portion configured to direct delivery of theone or more items by a carrier service to the dynamic delivery location,wherein the carrier service transmits a signal to the vehicle thatmimics the vehicle's key fob, resulting in the unlocking of the vehicle,allowing the carrier service to complete delivery of the one or moreitems to the vehicle that is associated with the user.
 2. The computerprogram product of claim 1, further comprising an executable portionconfigured to transmit a notification indicating receipt of the item,the notification comprising information identifying one or morealternative delivery locations for selection by the user via theinteractive user interface, the one or more alternative deliverylocations comprising the vehicle.
 3. The computer program product ofclaim 1, further comprising: an executable portion configured to analyzelocation information for the vehicle to identify location patterns; andan executable portion configured to determine one or more alternativedelivery locations based at least in part on the identified locationpatterns.
 4. The computer program product of claim 1, further comprisingan executable portion configured to transmit, to a third-partymonitoring service, an electronic communication requesting that thethird-party monitoring service unlock the vehicle.
 5. The computerprogram product of claim 4, wherein the electronic communicationrequesting that the third-party monitoring service unlock the vehiclecomprises a request to remotely open a trunk of the vehicle.
 6. Thecomputer program product of claim 1, further comprising an executableportion configured to determine an estimated delivery time for the itembased at least in part on the real-time location of the vehicle.
 7. Thecomputer program product of claim 1, further comprising: an executableportion configured to analyze location information for the vehicle todetermine one or more alternative delivery locations based at least inpart on identified location patterns; and an executable portionconfigured to provide the one or more alternative delivery locations fordisplay via the interactive user interface.
 8. The computer programproduct of claim 1, further comprising: an executable portion configuredto receive updated location information for the vehicle; and anexecutable portion configured to predict the location of the vehiclebased at least in part on the updated location information for thevehicle.
 9. A system comprising: one or more processors; one or morecomputer storage media storing computer-executable instructions that,when executed by the one or more processors, perform operationscomprising: receiving a request by a user for mobile delivery of an itemto a vehicle that is associated with the user; identifying the item tobe delivered to the vehicle, wherein the item comprises an item shipmentidentifier associated with shipping data for the item; storing one ormore user profiles, by the one or more processors, associated with user,wherein (a) the one or more user profiles comprise informationassociated with a vehicle of the user, (b) the one or more user profilesprovide the user with access to the information associated with thevehicle via an interactive interface executing on a mobile computingdevice based at least in part on access credentials, and (c) the one ormore user profiles provide, via the interactive interface executing onthe mobile computing device based at least in part on the accesscredentials, the user with access to information associated with an itemto be delivered to the user; receiving shipping data for the item to bedelivered to the user and utilizing the shipping data to identify theone or more user profiles corresponding to the item to be delivered;providing an interactive user interface for display via a mobilecomputing device, the interactive user interface comprising visuallyselectable indicia of a dynamic delivery option; receiving a request todeliver the item to a dynamic delivery location associated with alocation of the vehicle determined by a vehicle location determiningcomputing device; electronically generating updated shipping data toindicate the delivery location as the dynamic delivery location;requesting real-time location information for the vehicle from thevehicle location determining computing device; and directing delivery ofthe item by a carrier service to the dynamic delivery location, whereinthe carrier service transmits a signal to the vehicle that mimics thevehicle's key fob, resulting in the unlocking of the vehicle, allowingthe carrier service to complete delivery of the item to the vehicle thatis associated with the user.
 10. The system of claim 9, furthercomprising transmitting a notification indicating receipt of the item,the notification comprising information identifying one or morealternative delivery locations for selection by the user via theinteractive user interface, the one or more alternative deliverylocations comprising the dynamic delivery location.
 11. The system ofclaim 9, further comprising: analyzing location information for thevehicle to identify location patterns; and determining one or morealternative delivery locations based at least in part on the identifiedlocation patterns.
 12. The system of claim 9, further comprisingtransmitting, to a third-party monitoring service, an electroniccommunication requesting that the third-party monitoring service unlockthe vehicle.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the electroniccommunication requesting that the third-party monitoring service unlockthe vehicle comprises a request to remotely open a trunk of the vehicle.14. The system of claim 9, further comprising determining an estimateddelivery time for the item based at least in part on the location of thevehicle.
 15. The system of claim 9, further comprising: analyzinglocation information for the vehicle to determine one or morealternative delivery locations based at least in part on identifiedlocation patterns; and providing the one or more alternative deliverylocations for display via the interactive user interface.
 16. The systemof claim 9, further comprising: receiving updated location informationfor the vehicle; and predicting the location of the vehicle based atleast in part on the updated location information for the vehicle.
 17. Anon-transitory machine-readable medium storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by one or more computing devices,perform operations comprising: receiving a request by a user for mobiledelivery of an item to a vehicle that is associated with the user;identifying the item to be delivered to the vehicle, wherein the itemcomprises an item shipment identifier associated with shipping data forthe item; storing one or more user profiles, by one or more processors,associated with the user, wherein (a) the one or more user profilescomprise information associated with a vehicle of the user, (b) the oneor more user profiles provide the user with access to the informationassociated with the vehicle via an interactive interface executing on amobile computing device based at least in part on access credentials,and (c) the one or more user profiles provide, via the interactiveinterface executing on the mobile computing device based at least inpart on the access credentials, the user with access to informationassociated with an item to be delivered to the user; receiving shippingdata for the item to be delivered to the user and utilizing the shippingdata to identify the one or more user profiles corresponding to the itemto be delivered; providing an interactive user interface for display viaa mobile computing device, the interactive user interface comprisingvisually selectable indicia of a dynamic delivery option; electronicallygenerating updated shipping data to indicate the delivery location asthe dynamic delivery location; receiving a request to deliver the itemto a dynamic delivery location associated with a location of the vehicledetermined by a vehicle location determining computing device;requesting real-time location information for the vehicle from thevehicle location determining computing device; and directing delivery ofthe item by a carrier service to the dynamic delivery location, whereinthe carrier service transmits a signal to the vehicle that mimics thevehicle's key fob, resulting in the unlocking of the vehicle, allowingthe carrier service to complete delivery of the item to the vehicle thatis associated with the user.
 18. The machine-readable medium of claim17, further comprising: analyzing location information for the vehicleto identify location patterns; and determining one or more alternativedelivery locations based at least in part on the identified locationpatterns.
 19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, furthercomprising determining an estimated delivery time for the item based atleast in part on the real-time location of the vehicle.
 20. Themachine-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising: receivingupdated location information for the vehicle; and predicting thelocation of the vehicle based at least in part on the updated locationinformation for the vehicle.